Real Stories of Street Homelessness

Sleeping Rough is a community-based film raising awareness of street homelessness in the UK. Using real interviews conducted with rough sleepers and members of the homeless community all around the country, the film is a docudrama that follows three characters, looking at the circumstances that force each of them to sleep on the street.

Synopsis

Sleeping Rough follows three characters, each on their journey to street homelessness. Jack is an engineer who, through a chain of events, loses his job, his flat, and his family. Catherine is a young woman who moves straight out of care into a flat with her boyfriend, however it soon becomes clear that the relationship is emotionally abusive, and with no-one to turn to, she escapes onto the streets. Eva is an immigrant who, to avoid being deported, accepts a job where she is underpaid, overworked and exploited. Soon, she too decides to escape.

All the events in the film have been described to us by members of the homeless community; everything that takes place has happened to someone; it’s real. While the events follow a script, all the dialogue is improvised, and was established through a series of rehearsals between Owain Astles, the film’s director, and the film’s cast, many of whom have experience of homelessness themselves. Many of the scenes in the film were shot on location, in shelters and soup kitchens, and on the streets, so the actors were plunged right into the situations they were bringing to life.

"The film lies at the stable intersection of professional, artistic and political cinema, projecting the voices of those who are ignored and marginalised by society. Sleeping Rough is powerful, moving and truthful, and promises to make an impact." - Gabi Spiro, Epigram

News/Reviews:

You can stay up to date with the progress of Sleeping Rough right here, on Facebook and Twitter. For more information about the film, including behind-the-scenes pics, screening details and our manifesto, just scroll down.

Original Song

Listen to and download our original song, See Me, adapted from a poem by Miguel Dean, composed by Dan Baboulene and performed by the very talented Paul John Bailey. All proceeds from song sales go to homelessness charities.

Screening of Sleeping Rough, along with a Forum Theatre performance by Many Minds and a Q&A including Owain, the film's director.

New York University

Screening of Sleeping Rough plus discussion with students at New York University. Video on the right.

Schools tour

Screening of the film at various schools in Bristol and the South West, including talks by Owain and educational packs, introducing the themes of the film, different aspects of homelessness and the importance of awareness at a young age.

The Robes Project fundraising screening

Private screening of Sleeping Rough to raise money for the Robes Project, a homelessness charity based in Lewisham, London.

The Salvation Army Logos House

Private screening of Sleeping Rough to workers and service users in Logos House, a homeless shelter in Bristol.

Hopeful Traders Screening

Private screening of Sleeping Rough to raise money for Hopeful Traders, a social arts project and clothing brand that collaborates with the homeless community to raise money for homeless charities.

Behind the scenes

The Story

Homelessness is a massive problem in the UK; the number of people sleeping rough has increased by over 100% in just the last 5 years, funding for homeless services has been slashed and every day, more people are finding themselves forced onto the streets. Over the last couple of years, Pastles Productions has undertaken our biggest project to date; collecting interviews from rough sleepers, council members and charity workers from around the UK, in order to create a feature film raising awareness of homelessness.

Back at the beginning of 2016, I ventured out onto the streets of Bristol to make a short documentary about rough sleepers in the UK. In doing so I got stared at, heckled and abused by bystanders however I met some of the most humble, gracious and pleasant people I’ve met in my life. It was a shocking and enjoyable experience at the same time, and I was astonished by the positive response the video got from the homeless community and beyond.

As a result of the response I got from the video, we got to work on a longer film with the intention of further raising awareness of homelessness, the causes of it, what rough sleepers go through on a day-to-day basis, and what we can do to help. The film centres around three characters, looking at the different ways each of them ended up on the streets, and is a dramatisation of interviews held with homeless people, talking about their lives on the street.

Owain, Director of Sleeping Rough

News

Here are a few photos from our Sleeping Rough preview screening and panel discussion at the Watershed back in February, as part of Homelessness Awareness Week. It was a great evening and a great week to be a part of, even if the snow did hamper some of our activities. To find out more about…

As we say goodbye to Winter and march into Spring, partner organisations across Bristol open their doors to encourage people to think about the community we live in, look out for family and friends and scoop people up before they fall. Bristol Homelessness Awareness Week (February 24- 3 March) aims to raise awareness of homelessness,…

More exciting Sleeping Rough news! So we had our first Bristol screening of Sleeping Rough last week! It might have still been a private screening, but every time we put it on the big screen in front of an audience, no matter how big that audience is, it feels like a huge event; and it…

Back in November, we had our first preview for Sleeping Rough, Pastles Productions’ first feature film. We were really lucky to screen at The Big Issue Foundation’s Big Sleep Out at the Oval, London, where film got an amazing reception, and we were stunned by the positive feedback from both members of the public and Big…

Incredibly, it’s exactly a year since we first published our Kickstarter for Sleeping Rough… We’ve come a really long way since then, and it’s entirely thanks to all the support we’ve had throughout the process; from charities, organisations and above all, from you guys, our backers and all the individuals who’ve pushed us to get…

That’s a wrap! After a fairly intense week and all the research we’ve done over the last few months, we’re delighted to say that shooting finished yesterday on our Exeter Phoenix-commissioned film, The Hardest Fight! The whole cast and crew were amazing, and a special thank you goes to Empire Fighting Chance​ in Bristol for…

Slightly surreal, but today was our last shoot day for Sleeping Rough… It was a tough shoot, sometimes taking some real bravery from cast and crew to pull through, but we did it, and we couldn’t have done it without every single member of the team, from van driver to make up artist, to actors.…

Homeless Awareness Week was a massive success, culminating in the Sleep Out, where over 100 people helped raise more than £10k for various homeless services in Bristol and nationally, including One25, Crisis Centre Ministeries and The Big Issue Foundation. After the Sleep Out, we had a weekend packed full of rehearsals for the film. It…

A new street newspaper for the homeless: A start-up that hopes to make a real difference. Sleeping Rough Film talks to the founders, Dave Wotherspoon and Jennifer Marshall to get the lowdown… Jennifer and Dave believe their highly structured system is the best way to cater to the needs of each specific group within…

Yesterday Stephen Robertson, CEO of The Big Issue Foundation kindly took some time out of his day to chat to Melita, co-producer of ‘Sleeping Rough‘, about homelessness, what everyday people can do to help and what he thinks of our concept. Take a look at what he had to say… by Melita Cameron-Wood M:…

Rehearsals

Cast & Crew

Owain Astles

Director/Producer

Owain is a young filmmaker and director of Pastles Productions, a film production company that aims to make films raising awareness of social and political issues. Previous work includes KiDS, a short film about bullying in schools, The Hardest Fight, a campaign to raise awareness of links between mental health and boxing and Rife-commissioned Crisis and Hope, a documentary series about homeless charities in Bristol.

Melita Cameron-Wood

Producer

Melita’s past experience includes pre-programming and research at Cinegraph and marketing and social media at Crossing The Screen International Film Festival. She founded the International Film Society at the University of Oxford and was an active member of OUDS and Oxide radio. She also spent several months working in a community theatre (Alarm Theater) which led dramatic projects based on real life experiences with refugees, prison inmates and members of the public.

Nolan Willis

Jack

Nolan is a Scottish actor “who loves being an actor”. His two other most recent films were Redcon-1, based on 8 special forces embarked on a suicide mission in a world of the undead, and The Sprint King, based on the life story of famous jockey Dandy Nichols and his unruly horse SOBA, which premiered in London, June 2016.

Elle Payne

Catherine

Sleeping Rough is Elle’s first experience of acting onscreen, having been in a series of theatre productions, including Cardboard Citizens’ adaptations of LandAid and Cathy Come Home (playing the title character).

Megan Prescott

Toni

Meg is an English actress and bodybuilder who is best known for her role as Katie Fitch in the double BAFTA-winning teen drama Skins. Megan was recently cast as Jade Podfer on the British drama show called Holby City and in a horror movie Shortcuts To Hell: Volume 1.

Michael Quartey

Oliver

Michael is a young actor from London who’s been involved in several productions with Cardboard Citizens, as well as a number of theatre productions and commercials.

Hayley Wareham

Michelle

Hayley has also worked extensively with Cardboard Citizens, and was cast in the principal role of 15 year old Danielle in their Forum Theatre tour of Cathy, as well as 2015 TV Movie Is This Rape?.

David Olapoju

Keith

David is a British Nigerian actor who has worked with Cardboard Citizens over the last few years and makes his film debut in Sleeping Rough.